(erielack) re: Copyright

[carl <cgg25_@_drexel.edu>]

 >I wish I knew the answer to this one. I always thought that if you own 
the
 >ORIGINAL of a slide, then that technically is your slide to do 
whatever you
 >want with. But now I hear that doesn't necessarily have to be the case
 >anymore on this. As I understand it, a copyright is implicitly created
 >whenever an individual creates a work, whether that's taking a photo,
 >writing a book, or developing a piece of computers software. They can 
sell
 >that "work", but it is still copyrighted by THEM.
 >
 >Anyone know for sure?

Nothing in the law is for sure. (And no, that's not a political 
comment. And I am not a
lawyer.)

However, having read the actual copyright law, and having followed 
several publicized court
cases, I can say that my understanding is that copyright ownership does 
not transfer unless
a WRITTEN transfer is made. That is, the original copyright owner has 
to write something to
the effect that he has sold his copyright to the new owner. Simple 
posession of the original
does not indicate ownership of copyright. There are wrinkles to this, 
of course. If the
creator of the slide never actually registered the copyright, you could 
go and register
it, and good luck to the guy who made the original trying to regain his 
rights.

Let the barbecue begin...


	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	Sponsored by the ELH&TS
	http://www.elhts.org

------------------------------